How much is too many?

Recently I have been getting the same question come up during workshops: “How many times should I call a new prospect before I give up?” in reality most say “before we move on”, I hear “before I give up”; this is coming up much more than in the past. The reality is that sales professionals should be reaching out more times to any given prospect than they naturally feel comfortable doing.

There have been a number of studies that show that most reps will try three times then move on. Same studies show that it takes as much as 5 to 7 touch points for potential prospects to let us in. These can be phone calls, in reality voice mail, e-mail, or in some cases fax still works.

So if you are moving on after three tries, and your competitor calls twice the following week, you just primed the pump for his success.

Believe me they won’t take it personally, you are not going to upset them, there is money in being professionally persistent! Meaning don’t hound them every day for eight weeks, but six time over the course of a couple of weeks will get you more meeting, and as result more sales, more referrals, etc.

Tibor Shanto is a recognized speaker, award winning author Shift!: Harness The Trigger Events That Turn Prospects Into Customers, and sought after trainer. Tibor is a Director of and a contributor to Sales Bloggers Union, and his work has appeared in numerous of publications and leading sales websites.
A 25-year veteran of B2B sales in information, content management, and financial sectors, Tibor has developed an insiderâ€™s perspective on how information can be used to, shorte...